Darius Alexis Henderson (born 7 September 1981) is an English professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who last played as a
striker for
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, ...
.
Born in
Sutton
Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
England
In alphabetical order by county:
* Sutton, Bedfordshire
* Sutton, Berkshire, a location
* Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire
* ...
, England,
(although he is often mistakenly cited as being born in
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, where he moved at a young age and attended school in the town), Henderson started his football career as a junior with
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
before signing professionally for
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
. Having spent four years at Reading he then moved initially to
Gillingham before being signed by
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
with whom he achieved promotion from the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
and played in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
during the
2006–07 season. Leaving Watford, he then had spells at
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
and
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
before signing for Forest. Henderson has also played on loan for both
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
and
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
during his career.
His record transfer fee was the £2,000,000 that Sheffield United paid for him in 2008. He scored 20 goals in 72 appearances for the Sheffield club.
Club career
Reading
Henderson started his career at
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
, making his debut as a substitute in March 2000, in a 3–0 loss to
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
. After a further two substitute appearances he made his first start, in a 2–1 victory over
Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...
in April, although he was substituted at half-time. He made a further two appearances that season.
Despite his spell in the team towards the end of that season, he was limited to six appearances in the
2000–01 campaign. However, he became a regular in the Reading side in
Division Two. His first League goals came in a 4–0 win over
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
, in which he scored twice. He made a further 24 appearances for Reading in the
2002–03 season, mostly in the latter part of the campaign, scoring four goals, but was loaned out to
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
for the start of the
2003–04 season for whom he scored two goals in ten games in a two-month spell. He made what was to be his final appearance for Reading in November 2003, before being sold to
Gillingham for a nominal fee in January 2004. He had scored 11 goals in 71 games for Reading.
Gillingham
Unfortunately for Henderson, he was injured just a month after joining Gillingham, and did not play for the remainder of the 2003–04 season. Early in the
2004–05 season, he was loaned to
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
side
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
, for whom he scored an impressive five goals in six appearances. Returning to
Priestfield, Gillingham were already struggling in the lower reaches of the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
. Henderson became a regular in the side's struggle for survival, scoring 11 goals.
Watford
With the
2005–06 season due to start, he became part of
Adrian Boothroyd's reshaped
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
side, joining for a fee of £450,000. Signed the day before the first game of the season, he made his début and scored in the 2–1 loss to
Preston North End which opened the season. Henderson went on to be an integral part of Watford's successful season in the Championship, scoring 14 goals – nine of which were headers – in 27 games as they finished third, including a splendid half-volley in the local derby away at Luton Town. He also scored a penalty in Watford's 3–0 win against
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
in the Championship play-off final, as Watford were promoted to the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
. A passionate player, Henderson amassed six yellow cards and one red in the
2005–06 season.
While in the Premiership, it was not until 10 February 2007, that he scored his first goal of the season, against
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
at The
Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
in a 1–0. He soon notched his second, hooking in from close range against Wigan Athletic. His final goal of the season came away at Tottenham.
In the
2007–08 season, with Watford back in the Championship, Henderson scored thirteen league goals, including five in September. Two of these came in the last 10 minutes against Southampton, as, after coming on as a substitute, Henderson led Watford to victory. Henderson was named as the Championship Player of the Month for September. Henderson continued his good form until Christmas. Only three goals, however, came after the turn of the year. After being suspended for the first leg of the club's play-off semi-final against
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
, Henderson returned to score the first goal in the second leg at the
KC Stadium
The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...
. However, Watford went on to lose the game 4–1, and 6–1 on aggregate. Henderson had been a highly popular player, and came third in the Player of the Season competition.
Sheffield United
In July 2008, Henderson signed a 4-year contract with
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
after a fee of £2 million was agreed, with the possibility of further payments depending on appearances.
He made his debut for the Blades in a 1–0 away defeat on the opening day of the season against
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
.
He scored his first goal in Blades colours at the end of August, away at
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
in the second round of the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
.
Although a regular starter he missed a number of matches through injury and suspension, scoring only 6 more goals in the
2008–09 season.
The following season, he was again favoured as the Blades main striker and netted twelve times before once again being hit with an injury that would eventually keep him out for almost twelve months.
Henderson returned to the Blades first team in March 2011 but was red carded during his first game back,
and made only eight appearances that season, scoring two goals, as the Blades slipped to relegation.
Millwall
With the Blades struggling to maintain their wage bill following their relegation to League One they agreed to sell Henderson to Championship side Millwall at the end of June 2011 for an undisclosed fee.
On 22 October 2011, Henderson scored a hat-trick against Leicester City. The game ended 3–0 to Millwall and earned the team valuable points to steer them out of the relegation zone. Henderson scored his second and third hat-tricks for Millwall within a week, in a 5–0 FA Cup win over Dagenham & Redbridge and a 3–1 away win at Barnsley. He followed this up, scoring the equalizer against Southampton in an FA Cup fourth round tie. This goal took his tally for his season to 16, from 22 matches. It was also his 100th professional goal. During the close-season, Henderson was reportedly being chased by several Championship rivals but
Kenny Jackett
Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is a former professional football player and manager, who is currently Director of Football at club Gillingham.
A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midfield, Jackett was cappe ...
was keen to keep him.
Nottingham Forest
Henderson joined
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
in January 2013, agreeing a short-term deal to run until the end of the season,
after
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
agreed to allow him to leave on a free transfer to help cut their wage bill.
In June 2013, Henderson agreed a further two-year deal with Forest, with an option of a third year.
Leyton Orient
On 1 August 2014, it was announced that Henderson had signed a three-year contract with
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...
.
Scunthorpe United
On 24 July 2015, Henderson joined
Scunthorpe United upon his expiry from Leyton Orient.
Coventry City
On 5 February 2016, Tony Mowbray confirmed Henderson had signed for Coventry City..
Mansfield Town
Henderson joined
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
in August 2016. He scored his first goal for Mansfield in a 3–1 win against
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...
on 8 October 2016.
Personal life
On 1 January 2012, Henderson was arrested on suspicion of causing GBH.
He was alleged to have punched a customer in a restaurant where Henderson and his girlfriend were eating after the customer had tried to intervene in an argument between Henderson and another woman. He was found not guilty after a jury trial at St Albans Crown Court in February 2014.
Career statistics
Honours
Watford
*
Football League Championship play-offs:
2005-06
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Darius
1981 births
Living people
Association football forwards
English footballers
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
Reading F.C. players
Swindon Town F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Leyton Orient F.C. players
Coventry City F.C. players
Mansfield Town F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players